Uncouth Reflections

Downtown Vegas Neon

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

Here are a few snaps of Vegas neon from my latest trip there a few weeks ago. I shall not rest until I’ve collected every sign in the city.

Related

My first gallery of Vegas neon.
My post about Vegas’ Neon Boneyard.

Posted in Architecture, Art, Photography, Travel | Tagged Las Vegas, neon, signage | 4 Comments

Britney/Peggy

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Which do you find sexier? Britney’s new one:

Or this old Peggy Lee perf:

And why do you find one sexier and/or more pleasing than the other?

Posted in Music | Tagged Britney Spears, Music, Peggy Lee, sex | 16 Comments

Linkage

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

HBD*Chick enjoys a book by two of the Chicago Boyz, but has a few quibbles too.
Dennis Mangan wonders why so many MSM sites are cutting back on comments.
Are big cruise ships helping to destroy Venice?
Steve Sailer wonders if reading Chekhov can make you more of a human.
Heartiste offers up a Feminist Catchphrase Translator.
Bloomberg’s losing the battle.
Slumlord describes himself as a “Eusemite.”
What’s wrong with egalitarianism from an extreme-right perspective. FWIW, I’m on board with the critique but I’m not crazy about the proposed solutions.
Lots of recent Federer magic to be enjoyed here.
Foseti tries to make some sense of Winston Churchill.
Will S. is troubled by instances of police entrapment.
Are fossil fuels the drivers of population growth?
Quote Du Jour: “Of course humanity could all shift to vegan diets, forgo national parks and crowd in a few more billion people, hoping that new levels of efficiency will allow us to survive. But it is well to ask if this really is the kind of world that we want.”

Posted in Linkathons | Tagged alt right, Bloomberg, demographics, Dennis Mangan, egalitarianism, Feminism, Foseti, HBDChick, heartiste, population growth, Roger Federer, Slumlord, Steve Sailer, Venice, Will. S. | 8 Comments

Over-educated, Over-promised, Over-priced

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Epaminondas

epiminondas writes:

It is becoming increasingly evident that we are putting the cart before the horse. We have great colleges BECAUSE we’re wealthy…not the other way around.

Posted in Education | 9 Comments

Etymology of the Day

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

We’ve talked about polysemy several times, the phenomenon of one word having several meanings, some of which eventually come to overlap. An example is the word uncouth, the history of which we can chart with information from the OED. The word couth comes from a Germanic root meaning “known.”

Dates of Usage: Meaning of Uncouth

Old English–1650: unknown
Old English, now obsolete: unfamiliar or strange
1380–present: strange or unpleasant
1513–present: uncomely, awkward, clumsy
1542–present: rough, rugged
1694–present: uncultured

Note how the meaning of uncouth moves from a particular condition to a description grounded in that condition. Something that is unknown becomes alien, strange, weird, rugged, rough, and ﬁnally, uncultured. Couth has since taken on an imagined status, as in the phrase “He’s got no couth.” The usage here is completely ahistorical. Future lexicographers may record couth as a word emerging in the late 20th century to mean “propriety, ability, culture, knowledge, or skill.”

Excerpted from Seth Lerer’s History of the English Language, 2nd Edition course guidebook

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged English, language, linguistics, The Teaching Company | Leave a comment

No Police Department Should Be Without One

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Epaminondas

epiminondas writes:

With this, they will take your warrants seriously. Or fall down laughing.

Posted in Politics and Economics | 1 Comment

Linkage

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Christine Franck explores Rocky Mountain classicism. Don’t miss her Flickr photoset.
Once again, Japan leads the way.
Roy Baumeister argues that we do indeed have free will. JayMan disagrees.
Starchitect Santiago Calatrava makes buildings that are overexpensive pains in the ass. Steve Sailer has some fun at Calatrava’s expense.
Africa teaches crusader-style genius economist some lessons in unintended consequences.
Can an economy be a successful one without being based on growth?
Vince Keenan makes a quick visit to Portland to savor some underknown film noirs and to sample the local cocktail scene.
A drink at the end of the day: An enticing introduction (by David Russell) to some “overproof” rums.

Posted in Linkathons | Tagged architecture, Christine Franck, cocktails, Roy Baumeister, Steve Sailer | 5 Comments

Partner Training

Posted on September 28, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes:

Jezebel blogger jeers at Reddit Red Pill guys for discussing how to “train” a girlfriend. Safe to assume that her next blogpost will denounce this current trend?

Related

More.
What is the Red Pill?
Some excellent how-to-snag-a-man advice.

Posted in Sex, Women men and fashion | Tagged Feminism, Game, Jezebel, Red Pill, Reddit, relationships | 3 Comments

“The Canyons” (2013)

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes:

I finally got around to checking out this crowdsourced collaboration written by Bret Easton Ellis, directed by Paul Schrader, and featuring Lindsay Lohan and James Deen. Lohan and Deen play dissolute, fringe Hollywood types engaged in various sexual manipulations of one another while ostensibly trying to produce a B-movie. There are a couple interesting moments and Schrader takes a few shots at those kids today and their iPhones ruining cinema, but the movie only just held my interest. Lohan is sexy as hell and shows she can still act, and Deen is an effective BEE sociopath, but Ellis’s script and Schrader’s direction seemed at odds to me. It feels like Ellis wants an American Psycho/50 Shades of Gray mash-up (at one point he was keen on adapting E.L. James’s mommyporn and even names Deen’s character “Christian” in a nod to her books) while Schrader wants something more like a sunlight-saturated SUNSET BLVD. Not that this should necessarily affect my view of the final product, but after reading the highly entertaining New York Times story about Schrader’s attempts to corral his starlet, I frequently found myself wishing Schrader released a documentary about the making of this film instead of the film itself. On the plus side, we got a few more scenes to add to the Naked Lohan montage hosted on DailyMotion.

Related

Schrader talks about our changing film culture. Another interview with Schrader.
Deen talks about his experience working with Lohan.
Here’s the film’s trailer:

Posted in Movies | Tagged Bret Easton Ellis, James Deen, Lindsay Lohan's naked tits, Paul Schrader | 11 Comments

Linkage

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

Amusingly cantankerous interview with the guys from Steely Dan. The older I get, the more I like Steely Dan. Why is that? (H/T Sax von Stroheim)
Smart and hilarious deconstruction of the ethnic subtext of “The Graduate” by Steve Sailer.
It often seems to me as though Lincoln is the principle religious figure of the post-Christian America. Provided I’m onto something there, is this the equivalent of seeing Jesus on a Tostito?
I can’t decide if this is the future of movies or the end of movies. (H/T Blowhard, Esq.)
Do Americans have an unhealthy Putin fetish? Personally, I love him almost as much as Berlusconi. But, then, I regard politics as an adjunct of pro wrestling: I’m only in it for the wild characters.